Universities and Colleges

With hundreds of majors and thousands of colleges and universities from which to choose, how does one begin to decide what and where to study? For some, the first decision is where:

• at a large comprehensive university, or a small liberal arts college, or a specialized institution offering programs in engineering or technology or computer science, for example;
• in a city or the country;
• near the beach or in the mountains;
• near family or far away;
• at a school providing financial aid;
• or at a school that offers specific extracurricular activities, such as the opportunity to play on a soccer team, or to work on the campus radio or television station, newspaper, or drama, or film productions.

But for many others, the college search begins with what they might want to study and where the best places to study that subject might be.

Unlike other national educational systems, where someone’s college major is determined by what was studied in secondary school or scores received on college entrance exams, undergraduate applicants to U.S. colleges and universities often can choose from the full range of schools and academic majors. Of course, at highly selective institutions, competition for admission is very strong and only a small number of outstanding students gain entrance. Even at institutions that are less selective, some majors, nursing or engineering, for example, will have stricter and more competitive admission requirements. But, generally speaking, the array of choices for prospective students is quite broad.

Written by Linda Tobash.